Geneva Auto Show: If These are Eco-Friendly, Sign Us Up
March 06, 2008

By Bill Visnic

The Geneva auto show turned out as expected: It was a singular stage featuring fuel-efficiency and carbon-dioxide-reducing abilities as essentially the only act. Most automakers showed up in Geneva with actors capable of assuming roles in this new-age play. Those without the talent promoted the understudies’ virtue, that primarily being performance.

But what we liked most about the eco-positive hardware fronted in Geneva is how visually and intellectually appealing some of it turned out to be. In no particular order, our green favorites:

Saab 9-X BioHybrid concept
Sheet metal that perfectly melds hip style and tech-savvy cues with Saab’s tradition of being just a little “out there.”

So much more contemporary and reaching than the old-school and somewhat girlie-looking BMW 1 Series and Volvo’s funky but only partially likable C30, if this is the future of efficient premium compact cars, bring it on (with at least one rear door, OK?). But no more teasing, Saab (read: Aero X) — the production version must look like this concept and the design language given the authority to dictate the appearance of all other Saabs. This look isn’t for everybody, but it is totally on  the mark for Saab.

Reason No. 2 for the 9-X BioHybrid is the just plain sensible application of real-world technology. With a turbo (Saab’s specialty) strapped to a 1.4-liter four-cylinder to make 200 horsepower on E85 — and just 105 g/km CO2 — the 9-X’s drivetrain brings into focus that fine fuel economy and silly-low emissions may not dictate the end of performance as we know it. The withering 143 hp per liter is plenty to give V8 Neanderthals something to ponder.

Just for kicks, the General Motors Corp. mothership also is dangling the likelihood of this powertrain being further boosted with the next-generation, lithium-ion battery–packing version of the corporate “mild” hybrid system. That’s like the triple-chocolate cake of the tech world. Yoi!

Volkswagen Golf TDI Hybrid

No, there’s nothing intrinsically exciting about a Golf. But this concept marries Volkswagen AG’s proven and parsimonious TDI diesel technology with mild hybridization to generate just about 70 mpg.

Even if that’s “dyno” mileage, a real-world 50 mpg wouldn’t be out of the question — and thanks to a diesel’s out-of-the-ballpark torque, we’re betting a diesel hybrid is way more satisfying to drive than the hybrids we know with their weedy little gasoline engines.

Yeah, we know everybody in the world says a diesel hybrid is too expensive; VW needs to start wielding a little of its industrial might to make it happen. An ingenious company too long held back by its almost constant internal intrigues, imagine the impact VW could make in the U.S. (and Europe) with a roomy four-door hatch with a high-quality interior that gets 70 mpg and isn’t a slug to drive, stickering at — let’s be bold — about $25 grand. An eco-beast like the Golf TDI Hybrid could send Toyota and Honda scurrying back to their CAD/CAM stations.

Mercedes-Benz S 400 BlueHYBRID
Never mind the ridiculous nomenclature (“caps” —happy automakers have spent too much time text-messaging with their kids or something), the S400 BlueHYBRID is the real deal.

What’s not to like about a 300 hp 0-60 mph 7.3 seconds and a combined 30 mpg in a flagship sedan? Part of the action comes from what Mercedes claims will be the world’s first use of lithium-ion batteries for a mass-production car, imparting “mild-hybrid" functionality necessary to get to 30 mpg from a car this big.

The styling of the current S-Class isn’t high on everybody’s list, but the big S nonetheless is one formidable car, and the S400 BlueHYBRID is likely to cost markedly less than the only other hybrid flagship on the market, Lexus’ LS 600h L, which gets only a combined 21 mpg. If a 7.3-second scamper to 60 mph isn’t enough evidence the Germans have no interest in wussy hybridization, the S400 BlueHYBRID also will run 155 mph, in the event you’re late for the local Sierra Club meeting.

Honda Accord/Acura TSX diesel
Europe’s all-new Honda Accord comes with the second generation of the company’s acclaimed i-DTEC 4-cylinder turbodiesel. At press time, nailing down fuel-economy was problematic, but the first-generation 2.2-liter diesel was good for a combined 43 mpg. Honda promises the new version is good for 143 hp and, more important, 258 pound-feet of torque that the highest-performance gasoline V6s are just now surpassing.

We care because the Euro Accord in effect is the 2009 Acura TSX, which launches next month at the New York auto show. Acura’s already confirmed it’s entrusted its enviro-eggs to the diesel basket and is launching a U.S. diesel for ’09, though it won’t confirm which Acura vehicle will be the first to use it.

We’ll see a lot of diesels for 2009 — BMW is jumping in with a 50-state emissions-compliant diesel for the 3-Series and X5 later this year — but thanks to some top-drawer catalytic-converter science, the Honda/Acura entry is the first that promises nationwide emissions compliance without the pesky urea-injection systems most manufacturers are saddled with.

The deal-sealer: The Euro Accord/U.S.–spec TSX has tidier dimensions and looks much more crisp than the overstuffed U.S.–market Accord. If Acura makes the right choice and fits the i-DTEC diesel in the all-new TSX for the U.S., we find V6 performance and 4-cylinder fuel economy a tempting step in the direction of the 35-mpg-by-2020 mandate.

BMW X5 Vision concept
The X5 Vision is another diesel-hybrid concept, leading us to believe the escalating worldwide price of fuel and the threat of severe CO2 legislation in Europe is causing a crash-dive rethink on the economic viability of diesel hybrids.

If you want to know who appears to have the diesel tiger by the tail, BMW is our bet. The X5 Vision has a magnificently technology-rich twin-turbocharged 2-liter job that pumps out 201 hp and must be production-ready if we are to believe BMW’s press hype calling it the world’s first diesel to exceed a power density of 100 hp per liter.

The diesel is combined with mild-hybrid componentry under the umbrella of BMW’s gelling Efficient Dynamics development program to impart the usual mild-hybrid parlor tricks that run short of full-electric propulsion. The electricals contribute 155 pound-feet of torque and 20 horsepower, supplied directly to the 8-speed transmission, the first-ever 8-speeder from German tranny mega-supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

The performance numbers are convincing: 36 mpg in the EU combined cycle (surely less, however, in U.S.–type fuel-economy testing) and 172 g/km of CO2. Not enough to hit the proposed EU target of 130 g/km by 2012, but enough to keep from running afoul of London’s new congestion tax. The 0-to-60 number of 8.9 seconds is about the only un-BMWish blemish, but hey, the thing probably weighs nigh on toward three tons.

We’d like to see such a sippy powertrain fitted in something a little less porky than the X5, but there’s profit in them thar SUVs, so if this is the kind of vehicle — and price point — required to introduce diesel-hybrid technology on any scale, so be it. From a vehicle-dynamics standpoint, there are far less sporty ways to get around than an X5, whose magical chassis electronics help this trucklet to at times seem to defy physics.

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